How to Format a Novel Manuscript Properly

The trick to getting published upon completion of your novel is to ensure the process is as painless as possible for the publisher themselves. Preparing a professional looking manuscript is essential to preventing your novel being scrapped without being read. Different agencies will have different standards and formatting rules, but there are a few things to keep in mind no matter what you’re writing or for whom.

Keep it as ONE Document

Don’t have a separate file for every chapter in your novel. Condense it all into one single file in a word processor. And make absolutely sure it’s in either Word or .RTF format, both of which are standard text formats that are accepted by pretty much any word processor available.

The First Page

The first page is the Title Page, and it is crucial you get this right. It’s the first thing the publisher will see after all. Place the title of the novel in the centre of the page, about halfway down and in all capitals. Beneath that, put your contact details. Name, address, email and phone number. Then move to the actual novel itself.

Formatting

Make the novel text as easy on the eyes as possible. I recommend Courier New in a size 12 font for the text itself, and use double spacing format. This allows the publisher to scribble notes between lines (if it’s a physical copy) and makes it easier on the eyes than vast seas of cluttered text. Start a new page for every chapter, and label it clearly in the centre of the page. Each publisher will usually have its own formatting rules, so make sure you know what you’re doing. Some, for example, want text that should be in italics underlined in the manuscript. Others don’t mind.

ALWAYS CHECK THE GUIDELINES

This cannot be stressed enough. Check the guidelines for every publisher before even printing your manuscript. If your formats don’t conform to the guidelines, they won’t even bother reading your novel. They have hundreds to get through, so if you make the slightest mistake they’re going to discard your carefull crafted story like so much rubbish.